The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) has been inundated with responses to its two consultations on 2020-21 courses and exams.
It told Tes Scotland that 23,000 people had responded, including 5,000 “learners, parents and carers”.
The SQA announced the consultation late in the afternoon of Friday 14 August; it closed on Monday 24 August.
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The scale of the response dwarfs the typical number of submissions to Scottish education consultations, which in normal circumstances run for far longer.
On 7 November 2017, for example, the Scottish government launched a consultation on the far-reaching - though ultimately abandoned - education Bill, which proposed fundamental changes to how schools were run.
By the time it closed nearly three months later, on 30 January 2018, it had attracted just 870 responses. A 71-page analysis of responses was published three months later, on 30 April 2018.
It is not clear yet how the level of the response to the SQA’s consultations will affect its plans. Previously, it had indicated that, following the consultations, confirmed changes would be published in the week beginning 31 August.
An SQA spokesperson said: “More than 23,000 people, including 5,000 learners, parents and carers, provided responses to our two consultations [on 2020-21 courses and exams]. We have also engaged directly with learners.
“Thanks to all practitioners, young people, parents, carers and other organisations who replied.
“The feedback is now being analysed and we will publish the outcomes as soon as possible.”
Yesterday, Tes Scotland asked first minister Nicola Sturgeon if Scotland was sleepwalking into another SQA qualifications fiasco.
She replied: “The SQA now will assess all of the responses [to its consultations] and put forward their proposals on the back of that and I think we should probably allow that process to run its course before making judgements about whether it’s doing what people want.”
In its response to the consultation, the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) said the changes were inadequate, and had come far too late.
School Leaders Scotland (SLS) said: “We have concern over the level of future-proofing within these proposals. What plans are there in the event of another national or a local lockdown?”
EIS union education convener Susan Quinn said: “Whilst some of the proposed changes are worthy of support the general feeling of the [EIS education] committee was that at best they amounted to marginal tinkering, some of which seemed more designed to make things easier for the SQA rather than relieving pressure on schools and students.
“Working towards a normal diet of exams seems hopelessly optimistic on the part of both the Scottish government and the SQA, given even the current levels of disruption being faced in schools, let alone the threat of a second wave of the virus.”
Parents’ organisation Connect described the proposed changes to 2021 courses and exams as “gobbledygook for your average person”.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the SQA spent almost £140,000 drafting in private companies to help with the remarking of this year’s results, amid the huge controversy that followed the cancellation of exams.
